3. Some Things Have to Change
Chapter three
Some Things Have to Change
Nicodemus
The following morning, as Blaine and Zephryine coordinated cleanup from the grand scale event yesterday, my Shadows and I took the time to head to the library and see what we could find on Ambermourn while everyone was distracted.
A call to Valyce’s library proved fruitless, as there were no records of him there, so we figured we would try our hands at the more extensive archives at Odrikius.
Benjamin was working at the front desk per usual when we got there and looked up from an expansive tome he was bookmarking things in to greet me. “Good morning, Mr. God of Death. How can I help you?”
I kept my tone low so no one would overhear us, “I wanted to know if you have employee records, especially ones from Chandler Academy?”
“Chandler? Hmm, I’ll have to check on that.
Give me one moment, please…” He typed into his computer rapidly, his eyes scanning the catalogs so fast that I could barely keep up.
Finally, a ding sounded before he scrawled something on a sticky note.
“Row 337 on the third floor. It’s not a large shelf, but it has what’s left of public Chandler employee records. ”
“You’re a life saver, Ben!” I cheered as I took the note.
He winked. “Nah, that’s your hubby. Let me know if I can assist you further!”
I sprinted up the steps to the third floor, which was void of all life, thankfully.
The floor was home to most of the record keeping the Gods of the present and past needed filed, to keep them from falling into the wrong hands.
Most of the shelves were locked from regular student access, but since I was a fancy God-to-be, Benjamin was able to give me the passwords to the documents I sought out.
I typed the pin code in before the lock wheezed and slid open slowly.
The air inside the shelf was stagnant and arid, smelling of old paper and dust, and made me sneeze quite loudly when I first inhaled in.
I brushed my nose clear and started skimming the books carefully, my fingers making marks in the collected dust.
“Employee records, employee records… huh, there’s a few yearbooks?
Maybe we start there?” I offered, pulling them off the shelf and setting them on the oak table behind me.
Stark, Claude, and Alice popped up behind me and started opening the books, flipping through pages rapidly to see if anything stuck out to them, while I pulled out an employee index from what seemed to be centuries ago.
“I wonder how old this guy is, for him to have worked for Chandler for so long. I mean, he’s gotta be at least Seraphine’s age, right? ”
“If not older. From what little I know…” Stark squinted as he read the page he was currently stuck on, “Ambermourn was at Chandler from the beginning. He headed the Death Elemental department while Seraphine was a God and only stepped down because she had dibs as Phillip’s daughter and an ex-God.
We only spoke a handful of times, admittedly. ”
“Were elements really that separate at Chandler?” I scoffed as I read my own text.
Stark answered me in such a dejected tone that it seemed almost painful for him to recount the memories. It made me frown, thinking I was forcing this information out of him, but he didn’t seem bothered by answering me, just bothered that he had to talk about Chandler.
“Incredibly. Each element had their own dorms, own educational building, even their own cafeteria. Elements were to stay separate unless for large school functions, which is usually when I ran into Ambermourn. An occasional dance or banquet, or graduation, but nothing more. Even then, the departments tended to stick together. It was a toxic environment from top to bottom. Collaboration was non-existent, which is what you need for the Elemental world to function.”
“And also why Galaxy made Valyce so different. He wanted his students to learn as much as they could about all aspects of Elemental life, to correspond and coordinate when possible. He did a pretty good job in my opinion,” Alice giggled.
Claude spun his yearbook towards me. “Look at this blockhead. Does he remind you of anyone?” he chuckled as he pointed to a picture in the Sophomore’s section.
I gasped in awe at the archaic painted picture of my father, an old and decrepit black and white sketch, but nonetheless, probably one of the first ‘pictures’ ever taken of him.
His hair was cut short, something I never saw on him personally, and with it this short, we could have been twins.
His expression was flat, though, lifeless even, and that made my smile turn upside down.
“He looks so… miserable. I hate seeing him like that,” I whispered painfully.
Claude turned the yearbook back. “No one enjoyed Chandler, not even the teachers.”
“I think I found something!” Alice came to sit beside me so she could show me the page she was reading. “It’s a cover page on each department’s professor of the year. Ambermourn won for the Death department.”
“‘Evander Ambermourn is an invaluable wealth of knowledge here at Chandler Academy. His expertise in demon hunting has catapulted Chandler to the top in Death Elemental studies and has helped hundreds of students prosper. Evander is a simple man: a fan of the countryside, good tea, and cigars, and puts his students' needs before his own every single time…’” I read to myself.
Alice’s forehead wrinkled at caption. “Seems like a stand-up guy by this interview’s standards. I wonder where it went wrong.”
“Probably when he started feeding kids to Phillip.” I slammed the book shut with a scowl.
“I mean, my dad was so freaked out when he found out Ambermourn was there… there’s no way something serious hadn’t happened between them.
Seraphine probably called it a fight to keep me satisfied, but I bet that only scratches the surface. ”
“I wonder if digging like this is a good idea after all…?” Claude groaned as he scratched the back of his neck.
“What exactly do you plan to do with any information you gather about him, Nick? What’s the point in investigating who he is?” Stark questioned as he stuffed some of the archives into a bag for us to take home.
I sighed through my nose. “I’m trying to stay one step ahead of the game.
With Pandora at bay, who’s to say someone isn’t trying to break her out, or worse…
take advantage of our time of supposed ‘quiet’ to strike.
Chandler professors don’t just roll up to Odrikius uninvited, especially ones who are looking for me.
Why does the world have to send creepy people my way all the time!
” I whined into my arms as I slammed my head on the table.
Alice laughed and ruffled my hair. “Because you’re the biggest, most kick ass God in the universe, that’s why. It comes with the territory, kiddo.”
“Can I get a refund on my powers?” I moped.
Monday morning came faster than I expected.
Dad sent me a text that he would meet me at the Death Elemental arena at nine sharp, which really meant, get your ass out of bed and be here on time, dork.
I didn’t want to look like a total ass on my first day as a trainer, so I was up at six and in the shower and dressed by seven.
Odysseus slept until eight surprisingly, so when he woke to see me prim and perfect as I combed my hair in the mirror, he was a bit taken back that I was being the responsible one today.
“Man, did I sleep in or what? On the worst day, too…” he grumbled as he shuffled across the room to kiss my temple sweetly.
“I was going to wake you, but you’re usually good at following your alarm,” I pointed out.
He left his lips on my skin as he spoke, and the sensation tickled in the best way. “Think I have time for a shower and some coffee?”
“If you hop to it.” I stood to kiss him sweetly, letting the gesture linger for a long moment before I broke it hesitantly. “I’m going to head out early. Let’s meet at lunch, so I can hear about how your morning goes.”
“I’ll be there.” He waved tiredly as I dissipated as a cloud of smoke, my stomach doing somersaults as I whisked through the air towards the training arena.
Dad was already there, dressed in a simple pair of slacks, dress shoes, and a button up, with his hair formally slicked back behind his ears.
He kept checking his phone and clipboard rapidly, as if he were waiting for something important, but he perked up when he heard me rematerialize.
“Good morning, buddy. You ready to do this?” he asked, standing to come over and fix a strand of my hair.
I brushed him away with a smirk. “Come on, Bag of Bones, have some confidence in me.”
“I never said I didn’t!” he laughed, turning to the entrance of the arena. He waved casually to Endymion, who I was surprised to see joining us.
Endymion sported an outfit similar to Dads’ though he had tied his long white hair into a bun to keep it out of the way. His bangs fell in tendrils around his cheeks, and his onyx eyes were full of cheer despite the bags underneath them.
“I didn’t expect you to join us. Is this a just today thing, or a permanent addition?” I asked, somewhat warily.
Endymion clapped a hand on my shoulder. “I’m here for as much as you’d like me to be.
The Original Gods are trying to disperse ourselves amongst our Successors as much as possible, so you have an extra guiding hand.
I’ll be moving between you and Griffin, since I once controlled Electricity, and obviously Pandora is not in the picture. ”
“I see. Well, I hope to exceed your expectations,” I blandly said before slipping out from under his arm so I could move to the middle of the arena.
Dad could tell I was still tense around Endymion, so he took over entertaining him, and offered to go over the scoring system we fell under over at the bleachers.
I nodded to him for that as the sound of boots crossing wet grass erupted around me.